


Behind the Mask

by iwant2baweasley (becboobear)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Community: rarepair_shorts, F/M, HP: EWE, Summer Wishlist 2012
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-13
Updated: 2015-12-13
Packaged: 2018-05-06 11:11:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5414609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/becboobear/pseuds/iwant2baweasley
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hermione attends the Weasley’s annual masquerade party alone following her breakup with Ron. It is in her favorite part of the garden that she is joined with a masked man who she feels like she has known forever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Behind the Mask

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the 2012 Summer Wishlist event at [rarepair_shorts](http://rarepair-shorts.livejournal.com/). myownmuggle provided a list of ships and prompts and I chose Charlie & Hermione and [this photo](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/becboobear/iwant2baweasley/1125450016_2116427253.jpg).

Dressed in a floor length, Grecian-inspired, chiffon cream dress, Hermione walked down the path that led to the Weasley’s garden, where their fifth annual masquerade party was taking place. Pausing at the end of the path, she adjusted her gold-leafed floral mask, making sure it was in place, and then stepped into the garden.  
  
Floating lanterns provided light to the magically transformed garden. Gone were the farmhouse-styled furnishings and decorations, replaced with tinkling wind chimes, trickling water features, and fragrant flowers from all over the world.  
  
Despite wanting their guests to have a good time, the Weasley’s made sure that everyone remembered that the party was in honor of those that had died during the first and second wizarding wars. They had erected a wishing well and guests were encouraged to drop coins in on their way into the party; the coins were then donated to St. Mungos to help those that still suffered from their injuries.  
  
Hermione deposited a handful of galleons into the wishing well and then moved into the garden. Butterflies filled her stomach as she joined the other party goers; this was the first big event she and Ron would both be attending since their late-winter break up.  
  
Letting her eyes scan over the other guests, she quickly found Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, as they were wearing very simple masks that did little to hide their identities. It didn’t take her much time to find George, either, as his mask was the most obnoxious, and therefore amusing, of them all. She wasn’t surprised at all, when she spotted Percy and his new wife Audrey, as they, too, were wearing simple masks. When her eyes found Bill and Fleur, she found him wearing a Phantom of the Opera style half mask while Fleur’s mask was a white mask with tall white feathers on the top.  
  
It wasn’t until she had begun to mingle that she saw Ron. His face was mostly hidden behind a shiny black mask, but she could pick him out anywhere, with her eyes closed. She admired the way his dress robes fit his strong, lean body and was just working up the courage to walk over and say hello when _she_ appeared at his side. _She_ was wearing a dress that was way too small for her and an ungodly amount of feathers were on her cheap looking mask—little Teddy could have made a better mask, Hermione was sure.  
  
Turning to flee, she found her path blocked by Harry and a very pregnant Ginny. Harry was also wearing a nice set of dress robes paired with a black and white mask. Ginny was wearing an emerald green dress and her mask appeared to be fashioned out of sticks and leaves, her whole look was very Mother Nature-esque.  
  
“They aren’t serious,” Ginny offered, after she and Hermione had exchanged an awkward hug due to her belly.  
  
“It doesn’t matter,” Hermione replied, trying to convince herself as well. “We’re just friends now. We’re allowed to see other people.”  
  
Harry wrapped an arm around her and squeezed. “It will get easier,” he promised.  
  
She nodded and forced a smile on her face. “No more tears,” she said. “This is your last masquerade without a baby, you two need to have fun.”  
  
“So do you,” Ginny told her.  
  
“I will,” Hermione promised. She squeezed both of their hands and then let herself get caught in the people moving around them.  
  
She made her way to the refreshment table and piled some of Mrs. Weasley’s finest treats onto a small plate and grabbed a bottle of butterbeer before making her way to her favorite spot in the magical garden: the Lily pond with three benches that surrounded it—the James, the Remus and the Sirius benches, the James bench was her favorite.  
  
Sitting down, she stared at the water and the floating lily pads. She could still hear the party, but just barely. She had always enjoyed silence, not that she had gotten much of it being best friends with Ron and Harry, but following her breakup with Ron, she had found refuge in those quiet moments alone. She had spent five years planning her life in conjunction with his, but now she had the opportunity to plan her life how she wanted to.  
  
A rustling sound reached her ears, after awhile, and she turned to see a broad shouldered male making his way towards her. She searched his costume—a red-plaid Scottish kilt paired with a white shirt with white lacings and a mask that covered his entire head, save for the lower half of his face—for any recognition, but came up blank.  
  
“Mind if I join you?” He asked, gesturing to the other end of the bench.  
  
“Uh, sure,” she replied, quickly vanishing her empty plate and butterbeer bottle.  
  
“This is my favorite part of the garden,” he admitted. “It’s serene.”  
  
“It’s my favorite, too,” she replied.  
  
The wind shifted as they sat there and brought with it the melody of a song being played by the hired quartet.  
  
“Would you like to dance?” He asked her.  
  
Hermione’s initial thought was to say no, but then she remembered her promise to Harry and Ginny. She could have one dance with the stranger and call it a night.  
  
“I’d like that,” she replied.  
  
A beautiful smile spread across his face as he stood and then offered her his hand.  
  
The moment she placed her hand in his, she felt a shiver run up her spine. She let out a little gasp and looked up to see if he had felt it, too, only to get lost in a pair of deep blue eyes. She had never seen eyes that shade of blue or that beautiful before.  
  
She felt him lift her arm and forced herself to focus on the task at hand; dancing. He led her to a smoother patch of earth and then drew her towards him, placing one hand on her waist and holding on to her hand with the other.  
  
There was nothing fancy about their dance; they mostly swayed in place to the sound of the quartet.  
  
Hermione wasn’t sure when or how it had happened, but at some point the wind shifted again and the quartet’s music faded away, replaced with nature’s own score of music as the water and leaves moved in the wind.  
  
During this time, she and her unknown dance partner had moved closer, to the point that her head was resting on his shoulder and he had both hands wrapped around her waist.  
  
She felt a strange sense of comfort in his arms as if she had known him forever. Turning her head into his neck, she sighed contently and that’s when she saw them.  
  
The little orange-red hairs at the base of his that had escaped the mask. Even in the semi-darkness, she recognized that shade of red instantly; Weasley red.  
  
Her mind scrambled with this new information. She knew her mystery dance partner wasn’t Bill, Percy, Ron, George or Fred, rest his soul, which meant that she was dancing with Charlie.  
  
Heart racing, she began to panic mentally. Did he know who she was? What would he do when he found out who she was? But if he did know who she was, then why was he dancing with her? Was it a game? Was Ron behind it?  
  
“I- I have to go,” she said, attempting to keep panic from taking physical control over her body. She pulled herself out of his embrace and started back towards the party.  
  
“Wait,” he called after her. “ _Hermione_ , wait.”  
  
She stopped at the sound of her name, heart pounding in her chest.  
  
She heard his heavy footsteps as he came towards her and then felt his arm on her elbow, forcing her to turn around and look at his now mask-free face.  
  
“Take off your mask, Hermione,” he whispered.  
  
Still in shock, she could only stare into his deep blue eyes. She flinched slightly as his hands came to her head and loosened the ties on the mask, letting the mask fall from her face and dangle around her neck.  
  
“My brother is an idiot,” he told her, his large hands caressing her cheeks. “If you were my girl, I never would have let you go.”  
  
She couldn’t speak; her mouth had gone completely dry.  
  
“I’m going to kiss you now,” he told her.  
  
Her heart pounded even louder as he dipped his head down and placed a chaste kiss on her lips.  
  
The spark created by their lips touching forced a gasp from her lips and, for the first time in minutes, she had the strength to react. She threw her arms over his shoulders and pressed her body against his. He then pulled her even closer and brought his lips down on hers, opening his mouth and letting his tongue slip between her still open lips, for a proper snog.  
  
His kisses were nothing like Ron’s. Ron had always been a good kisser, but a little timid. Charlie, on the other hand, was an amazing kisser, who knew exactly what he wanted and, to her amazement, exactly what she wanted and needed, even though she herself wasn’t aware of it.  
  
She pulled away, breathless, and buried her head into his chest. His kisses made her want to throw all caution into the wind and see what where he could take her sexually, but that would make her look like a tart and she didn’t want that.  
  
“Shall we rejoin the party?” He asked her.  
  
Hermione nodded and repositioned the mask over her eyes then let him retie the strings. Once he had replaced his own mask, she felt him take her hand and lead her back towards the party.


End file.
